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European esports organization, Ninjas in Pyjamas announced its plans to field a Brazilian Valorant esports team. The news surfaced on Tuesday, November 2, when NiP unveiled that they’re shutting down its European Valorant division.
NiP Expand Out of Europe
Ninjas in Pyjamas unveiled their plans to field a Brazilian Valorant team on Tuesday, as the organization looks to expand outside of Europe. The news follows NiP’s expansion into the Chinese League of Legends league, the LoL Pro League (LPL), where NiP will field a roster in the 2022 season.
Meanwhile, NiP acknowledged the success of their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster, which will continue operating in Europe.
“With our recent move into China, we stated clearly that NIP’s goal is to have esports teams in all relevant categories in their respective most relevant regions,” read the announcement.
Ninjas in Pyjamas already field a Brazilian Rainbow Six Siege roster, which has recently qualified for the Six Sweden Major 2021. And like many of NiP’s previous esports projects, its R6S roster has achieved plenty of success over the years.
Most notably, NiP are the reigning Six Invitational 2021 champions, a title the team won in March when they edged out Team Liquid (3-2) in the grand finals.
“CS:GO is going great in the EU, a new LPL team is on its way, and our Brazilian Rainbow Six gods — reigning World Champions btw — have just landed in Sweden for a long-awaited bootcamp heading into the Major, to be held just two hours north of Stockholm.”
And while NiP have achieved plenty of success with their CS:GO and R6S teams, their Valorant roster hasn’t. Due to a lack of achievements over 1.5 years, NiP decided to bench its entire European Valorant roster on Tuesday, November 2.
That includes Charles “CREA” Beauvois and Emir “rhyme” Muminovic, who have been with the team for over a year. Adding to that, NiP also benched Adam “ec1s” Eccles, Yaroslav “Jady” Nikolaev, and Egor “chiwawa” Stepanyuk.
A New Valorant Project on the Horizon
Ninjas in Pyjamas entered the Valorant esports scene in April 2020, with an all-European roster. However, the division did not last for long, leading to the first complete roster reshuffle only two months in.
In July 2020, NiP started a rebuilding process, leading to months of roster instability, with players coming and leaving almost on a monthly basis. Expectedly, results were hard to come by, as NiP did not win anything noteworthy.
NiP’s only successful period for their Valorant roster came in early 2021 when they won the first and second VCT Europe Stage 1 Challengers. However, beyond that, achievements were far and few between.
NiP’s only notable achievement since February came in April when they placed top-four at VCT 2021: Europe Stage 2 Challengers 1. Since then, NiP have managed only one top-eight finish at VCT 2021: Europe Stage 2 Challengers 2, yet failed to qualify for any other tournaments.
In a bid to start fresh and chase results expected from one of the oldest esports organizations, NiP decided to move to Brazil and form a Valorant roster there. NiP explained that they chose this move since they already have a large following in the region.
“Talking about our Brazilian champions, we have seen how the interest for NIP has grown in the LATAM region thanks to their success.”
“The massive following and support we have from the fans there is huge, it means the world to us. We want to give you more NIP to cheer for.”
As stated, NiP’s next move is to expand its esports operations in LATAM, where they’ll look to build a sustainable ground for many years to come. Additionally, NiP will build new headquarters in the region to “start off a full-scale Ninjas in Brazil division.”